Repotting new TCs - weird or lazy vendor?
Crenda 10A SW FL
6 years ago
I picked up a couple of TCs at Publix grocery. I removed the foil and let them sit in the area that gets bright light and a little diffuse sun.
And of course, most of those buds fell off. New growth started rapidly.
And things are looking good.
The soil, if you can call it that, is quite rubbery and feels like pure peat. So I want to repot these as soon as I pick up some bark. I thought I'd check to see what the soil and roots look like. What a surprise!
There is a plastic container inside the 4 inch pot it came in. It looks like they repotted by putting the first pot inside the second pot, surrounded by about 1/4 inch of soil.
And this, folks, is another example of why we tell people to remove all of the old soil when repotting a new plant. I've seen some weird stuff - like jiffy peat pots - but never plastic!
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Comments (17)
SpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
fuzzies on my tc!!
Comments (16)lol, sorry for the confusion, but it got your attention , didnt it? hehe. And doesn't everyone talk to thier plants?? I know I am a bit weird, but still... ;) Thanksgiving Cactus, and fuzzy growth, hair like more like it. Only on 2 tho, but the others are growing real nice. My Daughter has the prettiest Christmas Cactus, still small but so vibrant green, and she has a lot in the same pot. Can't remember when she did that. But since mine have has such a hard time of it up til now, should I wait to put them all in one pot? I'm thinking that may be the way to go, let them get a bit stronger.. Will get pics posted sometime today, if I can see them, the camera should pick them up. But yes~~I am still excited, for them and for me. Not expecting any flowers this year, but as long as they are growing and looking good, I'm happy~~ :) starting to get the hang of this~~ I think (knock on wood) marjie...See MoreSerious CHC concerns after repotting.
Comments (19)Blue, you talk about watering "as I thought needed" and you refer to "I think they get enough lighting". For some of us such 'seat of the pants' flying is unacceptably instinctual. If it works at all is fairly easy to determine but if there are problems then perhaps a move to more objective methods is in order? Beginning with light, of course, it rarely is enough in North America in the best of places. Indoors is even worse. There simply is no leeway for niceties like 'diffused' or 'dappled' or 'bright shade'. Truth be told, greenhouse growers in the north latitudes use shadecloth to control temperature not to reduce light levels!! So, no, I don't think you have sufficient light unless you are supplementing the dappled west window light with artificial light. I find that a fixed day of the week (or two) on which to water does less harm than the catch as catch can approach. With CHC, or any medium for that matter, you are not so much waiting for the medium to reach a certain level of dryness before you water again as you are topping up the reservoir of water held in suspension before it runs completely dry. Read that again, everyone. It is key to the overwhelming misconception about watering orchids in North America and similar environs. In situ when an orchid receives rain the many crannies in the bark of its mount and the overgrowths of moss and the usual high humidity of the sub/tropical environment all conspire to ensure that rarely if ever will the roots see anything approaching total dryness. Not just phals but Catts too. Climb a tree some summer afternoon when it hasn't rained in days. The bark will have a vaguely damp feel to it and this is quite enough. In a tropical environment the bark would be damper still. When you water a pot full of bark the moisture level will still be quite high the next day, the day after that and maybe even the day after that. In nature although still not totally dry, the root environment will admittely be much less soggy than in the pot. Do you really think that waiting seven days to water again gives the roots anything approaching a natural wet/dry cycle? No it doesen't. Nor do you want it to for in North America, especially indoors, we haven't the humidity levels nor the guarantee of daily rainfal or dew, etc. We may as well learn to rely on the inbuilt capacity of the medium to ensure that adequate gas exchange is possible regardless of the amount of moisture present and water as often as neccessary to ensure that the moisture level never falls below zero. But as far as there being a maximum, there is no such thing. Every day watering while wasteful of water should not be harmful if other aspects of culture are exemplary! In North America, however, things are rarely exemplary and a whole regime of countermeasures has arisen to compensate for reduced light, low humidity, temerature extremes, etc. I haven't seen these measures work to my satisfaction so I am trying (and preaching) a method of creating the environment that promotes vigorous growth and development of the orchid like natural conditions do rather than attempting via water starvation regimens to forestall problems brought about by insufficient light and/or insufficient daytime max temp (in winter), low humidity, etc. Finally, from Blue's language I am pretty certain, like Clara, that s/he is referring to CHC and not coir. And I do believe CHC can be obtained pressed into bricks though mine did come loose in a bag. H...See MoreRe-Potting Notes...
Comments (3)Since I now know the right medium and watering habits, among other things, are the keys to successful bulb growing, I have it all under control... my problem is, I've been lazy in re-potting some of my earlier purchased bulbs... I should have re-potted most of them this past spring, but was too busy with outdoor gardening work. Before it gets too cold out, I will re-pot several of the more needy bulbs, which are the ones in poor medium mixes. The ones that don't require a new medium can wait until next spring. Orchids... ah, yes... what a thrill it was to walk into the doorway of 20,000 square feet of glassed greenhouses filled with every orchid imaginable! It was like a trip to heaven for me! I only went to the show for one day, the opening day, which was Friday. I didn't expect it to be too busy or packed with people, since Friday is a work day... I was right! I had the whole place practically to myself, and I wandered the different glasshouses for hours, snapping photos and choosing orchids to buy... what a great afternoon! For those who love orchids, Oak Hill Gardens in Dundee, Illinois is the place to go! The prices are incredibly fair and reasonable, almost downright cheap! The selection is incredible, and the owners are wonderful, helpful people! I got a chance to visit with the owner of Cal-Orchids for a bit... and walked away with a new Paph, in bud, for a great price! I wandered through the guest grower area, scoping out everything they had to offer... nice stuff! Even Larry had a good time, exclaiming over the weird and wonderful world of orchids! I came away with about a dozen plants for the whopping price of around $60.00! I got 3 Phals, a Paph, a Cym, 3 Catts, 3 Encyclias, and 1 Epidendrum! Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself! Several of the plants are in bud or sheath, and one of the Phals is in full flower... just gorgeous! I had a wonderful time at the Orchid Show! And then... the car broke down. Yep... we wound up staying an extra 2 days because of car trouble. It gave us two extra days of visiting with the kids and grandkids, so it was actually kind of nice! And my son helped Larry fix the car, so it all worked out in the end. I can't wait until the next Orchid Festival in the area! You can bet I'll be there! And now... I have to save some dollars to put toward bulbs... I would have had some leftover from the orchid show, but alternators for Fords aren't cheap!...See MoreWeird Markings on Leaf
Comments (16)Goldstar, repotting violets is no different a process at any time of the year. Maybe this will help you. 1) To just change from one pot to another (eg. clay to plastic of the same size). Have a new pot ready. Take the pot and run a butter knife around the inside against the pot to loosen it. Put a single layer of napkin in the bottom to hold in soil. If your entire root ball is intact and all you want is to just change pots,,,,then very carefully place your hand over the top of the violet and turn your hand over (palm up) and slip off the old pot and slip on the new pot. Carefully place fingers on top of the soil and tap the entire pot on the table to slightly "settle" the soil. This works if the plant is potbound and all you want to do is change out one pot for another of the same size. This is just for changing say,,,a clay pot for a plastic pot of the same size (plastic is preferable). 2) Now,,,,,to literally repot a potbound plant and keep it in the same size pot read on. Again, run the butter knife around the inside to loosen. Follow above directions to get the rootball out of pot. NOW,,,,,take off bottom row or two of leaves. The plant has already bloomed from this bottom row. These leaves can be trashed, traded or started! Remember,,,,,the plant will NEVER bloom from that row again. Trim enough off the bottom of the rootball so it can be set farther down in the pot. I use a plastic fork or dibble stick or something (fingers work also) to gently work a little soil off the sides of the rootball also. Don't worry,,,you are not disturbing the plant all that much. Place napkin over bottom to hold soil in, add enough soil to set rootball at right level, and start to backfill, tamp, backfill, tamp until you are done! 3) If you are "potting up" (going up a size or two in pots), the only difference is to add the right amount of soil in the bottom of the pot, (don't forget the napkin!) carefully set the little plant in the slightly larger pot, backfill, tamp, backfill, tamp etc. until you are done. Water lightly (not soaking) and you are done. There is no difference to the process no matter what time of the year it is. The only difference is that in the winter plants grow a little slower, don't quite bloom as much. Please don't worry about the time of year. Worry more about what your plant needs and when it needs it! tee hee,,,after all,,,,when a baby's diaper is full,,,we change it right away!!! lol Rosie PS. If you have questions contact me any time. I will help you and so will everyone else in this forum. There are a lot of great minds here!!!!!...See More
lindg5a
6 years ago
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked Kara 9b SF Bay Area CASpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCasualSweater
The 'weird mesh' was most likely left from jiffy peat pellet Crenda mentioned; they are supposed to degrade but I don't think they do - I have found them after few years still intact, in the compost pile. They are very fine nylon mesh IIRC:
I always try to rip them off/out when found around plants roots, sometimes almost impossible to do...
Crenda 10A SW FL thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5aCrenda 10A SW FL
6 years agoSpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5aSpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
SoCal Stewart (San Diego, Ca Zone 10A/10B)
6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked SoCal Stewart (San Diego, Ca Zone 10A/10B)rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
SoCal Stewart (San Diego, Ca Zone 10A/10B)